Presenting one of America’s great car shows: the EyesOn Design Automotive Design Exhibition. Here’s a giant photo essay on this past weekend’s 2013 edition.

Now in its 26th year, EyesOn Design has become a Motor City tradition. If you’re a Detroit area gearhead and it’s Father’s Day, chances are you’ll be at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House out at Grosse Pointe Shores for the show. It’s one of the country’s top collector car exhibitions, and it’s for a wonderful cause: the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology.

Where other car shows might focus on era or marque affiliation or performance or rarity or collector status, EyesOn Design is all about one thing: design. That’s not only in car selection but in presentation and in field judging as well. This unique perspective—cars viewed primarily for their design statements—sets EyesOn Design apart from most every other major car show in America, if not the world.

This focus is reflected in the judging panel. Led by Jeffrey I. Godshall, retired senior design manager at Chrysler, the team is made up almost exclusively of real professional automotive stylists. According to their judging guidelines, “the exterior of each vehicle at EyesOn Design is judged using professional design criteria; emotional appeal, execution, artistic excellence, and design character and continuity.”

1972 DeTomaso Pantera, John McIver

Each year the theme and classifications at EyesOn Design are shaken up and reset to create a brand new aesthetic framework. The theme for 2013 was “Revolution over Evolution — highlighting revolutionary changes in auto design,” and the categories included Hot Rods, Thunderbirds, Classics, European Exotics, Chris-Craft wooden boats, and a Pure Michigan display featuring cars manufactured in Jackson, Michigan.

This year’s special automotive guests included two famous Detroit-built hot rods: Chili Catallo’s ’32 Ford, known to the world as the “Little Deuce Coupe,” and the Alexander Brothers’ fabulous Deora dream truck. All told, some 240 vehicles were invited, each one specifically chosen to stir the passions of automotive styling professionals.

So if you’ve ever wanted to see the world of automobiles through the eyes of the professional car designers, maybe a perfect place to start is at EyesOn Design. Gallery below.